The View from Bolton Street

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.

Ephesians 1

There is an old adage, not exactly Biblical, that whatever happens it is “part of God’s plan.” You should know that there is no truth to this at all. All kinds of terrible things happen in this world that God has no part in, and certainly are not part of God’s plan. 

What IS true is that we all have a destiny that is deeply desired by God, that is to grow ever closer to the Divine until one day we are gathered there at the footstool of God in whatever life comes after this. 

The question for us is - will we live in to that destiny? Do we accept that inheritance? 

Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians reminding his followers of this inheritance and spends the rest of the letter helping them understand how to live in to that promise. 

How will you live in to God’s promise? 

Knowing that God had a destiny for you and that there is a place for you in God’s kingdom, how might you reorient your life to that end?

It could be as simple as a regular Bible study, adding a devotional practice to your morning routine, or committing to one act of charity a week. Maybe even seeking to reconcile with someone you said you could never speak to again. All of these have the ability to bring you closer to God. 

What will you do? 

The View from Bolton Street

Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

1 Thessalonians 5:13-18

Dear Memorial,

It is with a mixture of excitement and sadness that I write to you all to tell you that I have accepted a call to another parish and that my last Sunday with you will be August 25th, 2024. 

A week or so ago, our family was offered the opportunity to do something that has been in the back of our minds for many years: to move to North Carolina and be closer to family and friends. Neither Monica nor I expected things to progress so far so fast, but when you put the Holy Spirit in charge it is almost never in your hands. This past week I accepted the offer and we have begun putting together the various pieces for our own physical transition to North Carolina and the spiritual and practical transitions that will take place here at Memorial.  

Your wardens, Stacy and Beth, have been working with the Diocesan Canon for Transitions on a transition plan, and yesterday we met with the vestry to inform them of the pending transition as well. The responses have been a mixture of excitement for us, shock and surprise, and sadness, and... well we are feeling very much the same in the Maggiano household.  

It has been truly a privilege and honor to serve as your rector these last eight and a half years, to walk with you through moments of great joy and tremendous sadness, of new beginnings and of rough moments of confusion and loss. But what I have enjoyed most is seeing the words of our savior Jesus come alive in you, in word and in deed. From how you treat each other on a Sunday morning to how you rally support behind those who are hurting in our community you truly are Christ's hands and feet in the world. 

There will be much more to say before we say goodbye, but let me leave you with this. Come September I will no longer be the Rector of Memorial Episcopal Church. And that is sad for me and sad for you as well. But I do still get to be your friend. You will remain in my prayers as a parish and as individuals who have shared so much with me and my family. We will not soon forget you all.  

I began this reflection with Paul's farewell to the Thessalonians: if we can all follow Paul's words in the days and weeks and years to come, Memorial and the various communities we all come to serve and love will do just fine indeed. 

In Christ

Grey+ 

The View from Bolton Street

This week marks the end of Pride Month in Baltimore - an opportunity to celebrate all of the amazing achievements in equality that have been made in our region in recent years as well as to name the many challenges that still lay ahead.

I hope you will join us this Sunday as we mark the end of Pride month with a special Eucharist as well as by sharing Memorial Episcopal Church’s own history of LGBT inclusion.

During the service members of the Church will take turn reading portions of the history and during coffee hour you are encouraged to discuss and share things that surprised or delighted you or even things you felt were left out.

This is living history and we should be “proud” (within the limits of our Christian tradition I suppose) to celebrate these accomplishments and the people who made them possible.

The View from Bolton Street

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2020 —

On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s historic Emancipation Proclamation, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, which informed the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. Granger commanded the Headquarters District of Texas, and his troops had arrived in Galveston the previous day.

General Order No. 3 states: 

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

The View from Bolton Street

Pride and Prejudice: The Story of the Church

This past week I have been working with some members of the congregation to catalogue our parish’s history of LGBT Inclusion.  It is a pretty amazing journey!  And has been a joy to hear their stories and to delve into the parish (and local library) archives for additional information.  

Some highlights: as far back as the 1970’s Memorial was a safe place for Gay men and women to worship and be involved in ministry without having to answer any questions.  Memorial began the first AIDS healing service in the Diocese and was part of a consortium of believers that established the first AIDS Hospice here in the city. In the 1990s, Memorial spurred conversation by blessing a same-sex couple’s relationship publicly (drawing the ire of the Diocese and the National Church in the process).  In the 2000’s we were involved in pressuring both the Church (2003) and the State (2012) in the blessing of same-sex marriages canonically and legally. 

Memorial can and should take great PRIDE in our history of LGBT Inclusion. But with these stories also came quite a few stories of pain and prejudice. 

It is hard for younger Episcopalians to imagine a church where you were scared to acknowledge your own identity, or even be willing to have the internal conversation.  As one member put it to me, what was amazing was not just that gay people were accepted but that they were fully included in the life of the Church: “I was ‘included’ whereas in other churches at that time, acceptance meant tolerance, or not asking us to leave.”  

Prejudice is of course still alive and well in the Church. In some parts of the country even Episcopal churches may not be safe spaces for LGBT folk.  In our own city Trans rights are still hard to protect, and on a national and international level these rights are under constant attack.  It is wonderful that we will gather this Saturday for the Pride parade and that every Sunday Memorial will be an open and affirming congregation for all people no matter who they are or who they love.  

But we must also ask how can we continue to support, advocate, and lift up our siblings in Christ who do not yet enjoy the same freedoms. Every Sunday we gather to celebrate the coming Kingdom of God and then we spend the days in between seeking to build a world that is a bit more like that Kingdom.  

So this week let us celebrate the pride, acknowledge the prejudice, and continue to build the Kingdom. 

The View from Bolton Street

“I’ve got peace like a river, peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul”

Question for you: on a scale of slight dribble to roaring river, how is your peace? 

I hope more than a few of you will say “like a river in my soul, alleluia” and for that I am cery grateful. 

I suspect for others it might range from “babbling brook” to “downspout in a mild rain storm” and that too is something to celebrate and build upon.

And for a few it may be nary a trickle - and for you friends I offer many prayers. It is hard to be in. Place where you find little peace - in particular because peace is the kind of thing that once you have lost it can be hard to find again. 

The lectionary this week is filled with people seeking peace - the people of Israel demanding a king. The Corinthians looking for guidance amidst their own strife, the people of Nazareth angry at Jesus for the disturbance he has wrought — are all communities in their own way looking for someone to bring peace back to their livev. 

In our world today we see similar, and often competing, demands for peace. We have lost it. We can’t find it. We want, maybe demand, that it be brought to us. 

Amidst all that chaos why does Jesus do? 

He doesn’t leave. He doesn’t give in to the pressure of family and friends asking him to stop for the sake of peace. He doesn’t declare war. He simply looks to his left and his right and says:

Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

For Jesus and for us reclaiming peace in our hearts, our minds, our souls begins by simply doing the will of God, together, as people of faith. It begins by restoring a sense of peace among the chosen family doing the work right here. 

To borrow my favorite line from Bryan Stevenson, it starts by “getting proximate.” There is so much out in the world that is beyond our control. So much chaos and strife that is put in front of our faces to intentionally drive us crazy — and the answer is to simply focus closer to home. 

How can we bring peace to our church? Our block? Our neighborhood? Our city? 

How can we find common cause with our neighbors here? 

You can drive yourself crazy hoping for peace out there - or you can get to work building peace right here. 

The choice is yours - but Jesus has shown us the way, and I hope we can follow suit. 

The View from Bolton Street

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” 

Isaiah 6:8

Be careful what you wish for! Always a good mantra and even more so when the Holy Spirit is involved!  Whether Isaiah was just caught up in the moment, or felt fully enveloped by the spirit, or was just to dumb to say no — he heard God’s call in Isaiah and proceeded to spend the rest of his years condemning the people of Israel for their selfish, stubborn and reckless ways.  I am sure it is not the life he had imagined, and yet it was exactly what he was called to. 

Many of us who have been called one way or another to service to God and the Church have similar call stories, though hopefully not quite as dramatic as Isaiah’s. But there is nothing wrong with you if they are.

After all, when Martin Luther King, Jr heard the call he did not think it would end on a Memphis Motel balcony, The Rev. Dr Pauli Murray probably did not envision returning to Baltimore to pastor a church when she set out on her career, and many other sinners and saints could tell similar stories. 

The one commonality of course - is that at some point you turn your life over to God and acknowledge the Holy Spirit is in charge.  It sounds scary, but it can be quite liberating. 

Just knowing that from now on the standard by which you will be judged is not of human origin, but heavenly, is extremely liberating. Your life, your worth, is not determined by how much money you make, or how many titles you obtain, how many friends you have, or any other earthly measure - but only and exclusively based on one thing — did you seek to follow the spirit, come what may, and cost what it will? 

Friends as we prepare to gather this Trinity Sunday - I hope you might ask where God might be sending you? What kind of service the Holy Spirit might be laying on your heart? And how you might be able to obtain perfect freedom by letting go of the demands of this world and more fully embracing the promises of God’s Kingdom. 

The View from Bolton Street

Happy Birthday, church!

Pentecost is usually described as the Church’s (Capital C ) birthday because it is the day we celebrate both the indwelling of the Holy Spirit In Jesus’ followers as well as the first mass conversion - growing the church from a group of around 50 to more than 5000 in mere hours. 

There is plenty to discuss theologically and historically whether this is the right framework to use, but perhaps we put that aside for a moment and just let it be the Church’s Birthday.

What blessings would you celebrate in the life of the Church? 

What things would you seek to improve on? What if any resolutions would you make for the future of the Church? 

And most importantly - who would you invite to the party? 

Birthdays are great times to remember all the good we have done and the good we are, and also a nice moment for introspection — mayne this is the year I finally take up tennis, or learn another language, or call that long lost friend. 

But they are also great excuses to party!  We don’t throw parties only for our perfect friends, our good looking friends, our smartest and most put together friends — but for all our friends! Even the slightly messy ones.  Sometimes especially the messy ones. 

This Pentecost consider inviting someone to celebrate the church’s birthday with you. Not because we are perfect, or even close. But because we are clear about who he desire to be, honest about the challenges of our past and present, and most importantly excited to celebrate our future together.

Even when it’s a little messy :) 

The View from Bolton Street

May The Lord bless you

    and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

    and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

    and give you peace.”’

Numbers 6:24-26

This short piece of text that YHWH teaches Moses to teach Aaron and the other priests in the Jewish tradition is a sacred and familiar piece of scripture across many faiths. Not only do we in the Christian tradition use it as a blessing during our own services, but the actions of light, peace and grace being offered by the Divine are found just as frequently in the Quran or various Hindu and Buddhist sacred texts as they are in the Old or New Testament. 

If you did not know this was a Jewish blessing, or that it had resonances across other traditions, don’t be ashamed!  We do not spend nearly enough time considering the overlapping connections between our faiths and we tend to think it is all about us.  

I remember as a young priest visiting a synagogue in Miami as part of an interfaith exercise and one of the readings contained the line: “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be always acceptable in thy sight oh Lord our God.” Which frequently is used by preachers before they pray.  

Embarrassment has blocked from my mind what I actually said, but I am sure it was something like, ‘huh, interesting we use the same prayer as well.’ To which the Rabbi replied, very graciously, ‘well where do you think you got it?’  

There is no shame in not knowing something.  There are many things that we don’t know, many things we don’t get right the first time.  Humility is a gift of the spirit for a reason, and being able to say “well I didn’t get that right but I can try better” is one of the more Christian behaviors we can do.  

Unfortunately, our current public debate does not allow for a lot of nuance, a lot of doubt, a lot of uncertainty. We put a high value on being right, and perhaps an even higher value on others being wrong. So it is good to remember that this blessing - of light, of grace, and of peace, is offered to all of God’s people. Not just the ones we like. 

How can you be an offering of Light, of Grace, of Peace, this week?

The View from Bolton Street

On Locked Rooms, Fear, and Love

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:12-13

Some of Jesus’ most beautiful words about love are spoken at a time of deep fear.  It should not be lost on us that the Gospel readings for last week and this week are from Jesus’ farewell discourse, spoken to his disciples in the Upper Room where they were locked away before Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion. In that moment of fear and division and love Jesus chose instead to preach to his followers about love and unity, compassion and understanding.  Love. Sacrifice. Lifting up. Imploring his followers to go out and bear the fruits of love to the world. 

Look around.  We don’t have to look around much to see a world full of fear and mistrust.  To see doors locked for fear of those on the other side.  We protest occupation with occupation. We fight fire with fire.  We blame, and shame, and mock, and ridicule those who disagree with us.  We cast lots for their clothing. 

But even in those moments Jesus asked his disciples to strike out in love.  Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  To abide is an important term here.  Because when we are surrounded with hate and animosity it can be hard to love.  More specifically, it can be lonely to love.  

Whether we are talking about Israel-Palestine, Trump-Biden, or even Brandon-Sheila, our culture does not tolerate a lot of ‘Love your neighbor’ thinking.  That is why this language of abiding is so important.  Because to Abide means to be with, reside with, take up cause with.  When we abide in Jesus’ love we abide in Jesus himself and suddenly we are not alone. 

You are not alone.  

You are part of a community of love.  One that looks at the world through Jesus’ eyes.  We are not required to hate our neighbors or our enemies. We know that it does not help to belittle or demean or mock their causes or their attitudes, but only serves to create more separation, more otherness in the world.  You are part of a community of love that asks questions out of curiosity and compassion, that seeks understanding and relationship, that understands that peace obtained easily is no peace at all, that grace given cheaply is no grace at all.  

Jesus did some of his best work in times not unlike those we are living in today.   It is my fervent belief that Jesus is still engaged in that same work, and that we, if we so desire, can be his hands, his feet, his heart, his mind and in his strength.